Returning
by The Goliath Beetle
Summary: AU. Rin doesn't die. Instead, after the attack of the Nine-Tails, she leaves Konoha to travel the Land of Fire, studying and practicing medical ninjutsu. Now that she's returned, Kakashi is smitten. Team 7 wants to know the dirty details. -KakaRin- Friendship, romance and humor. Very, very AU. Seriously.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey there. First off, thanks for giving my story a chance. I have some stuff to say about it. **

**To begin with, I'm going to state that this is an AU where Rin doesn't die. I personally don't like AU. There are **_**very, very, very **_**few Alternate Universe fics that I've enjoyed. I'm the sort of person who prefers to stick to the canon storyline. That being said, the reason I decided to break my own rules is simple. If there ever was a man who needed someone to hold him at night, it was Kakashi Hatake. Lord, that guy needs someone to love. And I don't know why, but the most common Kakashi pairings don't work for me. **

**I can't for the life of me see KakaIru, I just can't. I can't see it happening, ever. As for KakaGai, well, it's plausible and I see why people would ship that, but as far as I'm concerned, Kakashi and Gai are best friends and eternal rivals. Nothing more, nothing less. The thought of them as a couple makes me want to laugh. I far prefer the student/teacher bond that Kakashi shares with Naruto, Sakura and to some extent Sasuke, so I don't ship those either. It leaves me in an odd predicament. So I've settled for KakaRin and decided to bend my own anti-AU rules. After all, this **_**is **_**fanfiction so I do have some freedom to goof around with the characters. (Thank god for that, right?)**

**Also, I want to say that as far as names are concerned, I'm sticking to the English version (Kakashi Hatake instead of Hatake Kakashi.) And if I get any of my titles wrong, for example, using 'kun' where I should have used 'chan' or whatever, please, please let me know because I will want to change it and correct it. **

**Finally, all my information on Rin that I haven't made up (such as her surname) comes from a site called naruto pedia . com I don't know how accurate this information is, and I've seen many different versions of her surname, so I'm just saying what I know. Once more, in case I've made any errors, please don't hesitate to tell me. **

**Thanks for reading this looooong authors note. Let's begin! **

* * *

Once, many months ago, when Kakashi had first become sensei of Team 7, someone—either Asuma or Iruka—he couldn't remember exactly who, had told him, "You have to learn to tune them out. They're going to fight and argue and whine and misbehave and generally get on your nerves. So there'll come a point where you just have to zip out of the conversation. Physically present, mentally absent."

"That sounds reassuring," Kakashi had replied with several layers of sarcasm.

"Trust me on this," Iruka/Asuma had replied.

Now, Kakashi was more than familiar with what the other Shinobi had been warning him about. Despite being used to it for ages now, he was having a hard time shutting the three noisy, bratty little rascals from his mind. They were _loud _and they were _irritating _and it was a _hot _day and he really, _REALLY _didn't have the patience for it.

"Why are you such a loser?" Sasuke muttered in that classic I'm-Too-Good-For-You-So-I'm-Pretending-To-Not-Give -A-Shit-Even-Though-I-Do tone of his. In an exaggerated fashion, he rolled his eyes at Naruto, who proceeded to turn an unsightly hue of red.

"Shut _UP, _Sasuke!" he snapped. "You're just jealous because I'm better than you!"

"Hn. As if."

"Naruto, stop shouting at Sasuke. He's a hundred times better than you are," Sakura dutifully piped in. Then, as expected, she blushed as she looked at the sullen, perpetually grumpy Uchiha.

Kakashi found himself resisting a groan. Why, why had he gotten stuck with such stupid, annoying fools? Why? Why, kami, why?!

Naruto chose that exact moment to start shouting in his cruelly loud voice about how Sasuke is an idiot who's full of himself and how he was going to kick his butt right here and right now. Kakashi, deciding that a crowded marketplace was the wrong sort of arena to pick a fight, finally intervened.

"All of you be quiet," he ordered in that commanding but somehow apathetic tone. "Or you'll be paying for lunch yourself."

Well, that shut them up pretty fast. In a second, Naruto turned from Fire Breathing Demon of Doofusness to a sainted puppy because he wanted to have at least ten bowls of Ichiraku ramen and had no intention of paying for it himself. Sasuke glared at Kakashi, who glared right back until the younger male averted his eyes, crossed his arms and said, "Hn," in an irritated fashion.

Sakura was just relieved that the tension had died down.

Kakashi sighed in relief, turning back to the wondrous and beautiful world of _Icha Icha Paradise_ when something caught his attention. He couldn't exactly place his finger on it…but…what…?

It was a chakra signature. Of someone. Someone familiar. Who…?

He lifted his one eye from the book in his hands and looked around. The marketplace was exactly as it always was, alive, noisy, colourful.

A woman with long brown hair and purple tattoos on her face walked. She had a paper bag of groceries in her arms and all her attention was focused on preventing a cabbage from falling from the overstuffed parcel in her hands.

Kakashi felt a chill down his spine. She was a good distance away. Seven meters from where he stood, walking in the opposite direction from them. She wasn't even looking his way. She was just…walking. Walking like she belonged here…and…his eye was playing tricks on him, he just knew it.

Was that? Could that be? No way. It couldn't. A lot of brunettes with brown eyes and purple tattoos existed. Tons. Millions. Trillions. Er…

* * *

"Have you ever had an embarrassing moment, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked in his usual hyperactive ramble. When no-one answered, he turned to his teacher. "Sensei?"

Their precious Kakashi-sensei (precious only because he'd reluctantly promised to foot the bill because they'd trained hard and well today), had stopped in the middle of the street, his eye dead focused on something. He'd been walking a step behind his students, and when he'd stopped, they hadn't really noticed until they were about a meter ahead of him.

"What's up with Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked his teammates.

"I don't know. Come on, we can't just leave him behind," Sakura said, charging towards the masked man.

"No, we can't," Naruto agreed vehemently. "He's paying for lunch!"

"Hn," Sasuke helpfully added.

* * *

For the first time in a long time, Kakashi felt nervous. The chakra signature was the same. He knew it now. But his eye was deceiving him. Because Rin _could not _be back in Konoha. She could not. She'd been gone for so many years he couldn't even remember it any more. This just wasn't happening. It wasn't. It wasn't. It so freaking wasn't.

And despite himself, he was about to call out to her. She had passed him by now, but if he called her name loudly, she could still hear…still within earshot. He took a large intake of breath in his lungs, preparing to—

"Who are you staring at, Kakashi-sensei?"

Her name left his mouth in a soft gasp and tumbled to the ground where it lay by his feet in an embarrassed and deflated manner. He managed, somehow, to tear his eyes away from the retreating figure of the woman who looked _so _familiar to find Naruto giving him an odd look.

"I…uh…" Kakashi began, caught off guard and feeling uncertain of himself. He tried to think up an excuse (he was usually so good at it!) but nothing came to him. It was like his brain had frozen in a complete state of _WHAT-THE-FUCK? _So instead, he gave up and turned back, looking for her.

The girl had vanished into the crowds.

"Kaka-sensei?" Naruto pestered.

In what seemed like an agonizingly slow manner, he turned to look at Naruto again. Registering not one, but three curious faces asking for answers, the Copy Ninja carefully replied, "Uh, nothing. Come on." In a pace of forced calmness, he walked forward, trying to get his rabid heart rate under control.

* * *

Half. An. Hour.

Half an hour of torturous waiting, waiting as Naruto consumed what appeared to be his sixteenth bowl of ramen. Half an hour of trying not to panic and jump with joy and cry and yell and tear his hair out and run around the village in various states of madness. Half an hour of keeping his cool.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Sakura asked him, concern in her tone.

Kakashi, who knew he was being oddly quiet and edgy, looked at Sakura. She was observing him with a look of barren disbelief because for what seemed like the first time ever, he was _fidgeting. _With concentrated effort, he stopped himself from drumming his fingers against the counter before answering in what he hoped was his usual bored tone. "I ate a heavy breakfast," he explained. "I'm not that hungry."

"Is tha why ya were three haars late for trainin' t'day? 'Cuz you were eatin'?" Naruto asked with his mouth full.

"No, I told you, a thief snatched a woman's handbag so I had to go catch him."

"Yeah, right," Sasuke scoffed.

"One of these days you three are going to realise that I'm not lying, and on that day, I'll have the last laugh," Kakashi muttered.

"Sure," Sakura replied, sardonic.

"Are you done, Naruto?" Kakashi asked hopefully. Forget having to keep a façade of being calm right now, Kakashi was seriously wondering if he had enough funds to pay for Naruto's lunch.

"I think so," Naruto said happily as he swallowed the last bite.

"Finally!" their pink haired teammate said.

Kakashi smiled through his mask and took out his wallet.

Then, recognising the chakra signature, he said, "Oh kami," before dropping his wallet and exiting Ichiraku's.

* * *

"Oh kami." Kakashi's wallet actually left his hands as his single eye widened in apparent shock. His three charges stared, open mouthed, as he suddenly stood and left the ramen stall.

"What the hell?" Sasuke commented. For their lazy sensei to _leave his wallet lying around _with Naruto in the vicinity?

The three of them, plus Ayame and Teuchi, stared as Kakashi walked out. He didn't really go too far. Only a few feet away from Ichiraku's he stood in what one could only imagine was a tense posture. Kakashi-sensei tensed? Since when?

* * *

The vegetable vendor across Ichiraku's was not having a good day.

"Listen, buddy," the woman said, "I paid for half a dozen tomatoes and you've given me only four. I know mistakes happen, we're all human, but the least you can do is own up to it! I had to walk all the way back to see you! Do you know what kind of day I've had today? I'm too tired for this."

"Look, lady. If you said six, I'd have given you six. Why would I have given you four?"

The woman looked furious.

And she got her way.

* * *

Kakashi waited, heart _thud-thud-thudding _because this was the moment of truth and she turned around, still irritated, with paper bag full of groceries—now she had six tomatoes, not four, Kakashi told himself, even though this was completely irrelevant information—oh kami, this was terrifying—

"Rin?" he asked. His voice came out softer than he'd expected.

Her eyes, chocolate brown eyes, became saucers. The bag of groceries fell from her hands. "Kakashi?"

* * *

"Who is she? She's very pretty," Sakura said. "Whoa, was she surprised to see Kakashi-sensei or what?"

Naruto smirked evilly. "You don't think she's…?"

"Who cares?" Sasuke asked. Though from the look on his face, he obviously did.

* * *

"Ka…Kakashi?" she asked again.

"Hey there," he replied, giving her his characteristic upturned-U smile. Thank the lord for his mask. It prevented him from showing his downright _panic _at the situation because _oh god oh god oh god_ it WAS her. Her hair was grown out. It was waist long and braided to the side and she had a side fringe that came over her eyes but it was _so _her and what was he supposed to do?

It was so freaking difficult to resist the urge to GLOMP her in the tightest hug ever possible but was that right? Because after all, it had been so long since they last saw—

"Oh my god!" Rin cried and attacked Kakashi in a fierce embrace.

The Copy Ninja was almost thrown off his feet.

"Rin…I can't breathe—"

"Shut up, you. Just…shush."

She was warm and soft. Kakashi didn't realise how firmly he was holding her until she tried to pull away from a hug that lasted several seconds longer than it should have. He let go and stared at her in complete and total disbelief.

She stared right back. Somehow, the situation didn't seem to have the right words.

Finally, in a choked, dazed sort of voice, he asked, "When did you get back?"

"Late last night," she replied, her voice high with barely contained excitement. "So late, in fact, that I could say I got back early this morning."

Out of all the intelligent replies Kakashi could have thought of, he said, "Oh."

"Yeah."

Unable to maintain eye contact, the silver haired ninja bent down and started to gather the fallen veggies. She got to his level in a flash. "Your tomatoes have bruises now," Kakashi commented with a small chuckle.

"I'll survive," she joked. Their eyes met. Once more, Kakashi couldn't hold the gaze. She kept talking. "I need to sign in with the Hokage. Lady Tsunade knows I was coming—I'd written to her some time ago—but I haven't yet gone to meet her. I wanted to make my house more habitable. Do you know how long it's been? Over ten years. My house has been locked up for over ten years. I almost died by inhaling the dust when I unlocked it."

"Twelve years," Kakashi finally said. "It's been twelve years."

Rin glanced at Kakashi then. "Yes. Twelve years."

"How were you all this time?"

"Me?" Rin asked. "Good. I learned a lot. And my team and I basically travelled the Land of Fire helping people who didn't get medical care that easily. It was an amazing experience."

Kakashi smiled again. "That's good to hear."

"And you?"

"The same. I quit the ANBU."

"Good. It was a bad decision from the start." Rin stood, the groceries now safely tucked away in the bag. "Listen, Kakashi…"

"Yes, I know," he grinned. "You have to meet Lady Tsunade."

She gave him an apologetic look. "I'd invite you over later but my house is a mess."

Kakashi shrugged. "Doesn't matter. The usual spot."

Her eyes widened and she nodded. "The usual spot. See you later!"

* * *

Kakashi was in such a horrible daze when he returned to Ichiraku's that he didn't even notice his students' (well, Naruto's and Sakura's) suggestive smirks. He simply took out a wad of cash from his wallet, thrust it into Ayame's hands, said a hasty, "Thank you," and turned to walk away again.

"Uh," Ayame called to him, "This is way more than you owe us."

"Keep the change," his shock-delirious brain made him say before vanishing into the crowd.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading. I understand that if Rin is alive, the whole Obito being Tobi thing probably wouldn't have happened, which means we basically throw the entire canon plot line out of the window. But hey, it's fanfiction, right? This is exactly what AU is for. I hope you enjoyed it! More chapters to come!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm back with more pointless KakaRin AU fluff :D Thank you for all the reviews. **

* * *

It took a second for Naruto to really absorb what Kakashi-sensei had just said.

"_Keep the change." _

Keep the change? Since when did Kakashi-sensei ever start uttering those words?!

"Well, that's new," Sasuke stated mildly.

Naruto jumped off the stool and watched the slowly distancing figure of his silver haired teacher. The man's body language was not…normal. He looked hurried, jumpy, almost. He kept falling in and out of his customary slouch—like he was forcing himself to not give a shit. He couldn't see the woman, but the crowd was thick. It would be hard to spot her.

"Come on," Naruto said suddenly. "We need to get to the bottom of this."

"I can't agree more," Sakura replied.

"Hn. What a waste of time."

"…Yeah, Sasuke's right, Naruto."

"What the hell? A minute ago you were on my side!"

Sasuke's lips twitched upwards just slightly. "Though maybe it's good practice."

Naruto and Sakura gaped at him.

The Uchiha pretended to look bored, as usual. "I'm just saying. It's good stealth practice. What makes it easier is that Kakashi seems a bit disoriented right now. His guard is down and a good Shinobi should learn to take advantage of these things."

There was the smallest moment of silence between the three.

"Right," Naruto explained, excited. "Come on!"

* * *

The usual spot. Kakashi repeated that in his head over and over again. The usual spot. The usual spot. The usual spot. Without meaning to, he sighed. It had been so long since they'd all met there…together. All of them.

It would be nice to have at least part of the team back together.

Kakashi wasn't one for silly things like incense sticks and flowers, but Rin liked them. Thinking that she'd be too tired to remember—or at least too tired to do anything about it—he decided to help out. His heels dug into the ground when he approached a prayer shop.

Kakashi was an atheist, yes, but he absolutely loved prayer shops. He loved the mystic smells that arose from them (usually combinations of incense and scented candles), he loved the warmth of the air in them, he loved the kindly old person who ran them (he never knew why, but all the prayer shops he'd been to were manned by old people)…There would be beautiful pictures and religious scrolls and seals, paper lanterns and idols of brass and silver.

As he entered the shop, a gust of wind awoke some wind chimes that hung from the ceiling. He glanced upwards at the sound and then turned his attention to the elderly woman sitting behind the counter.

"How may I help you, my dear?" she asked kindly.

Kakashi dug his hands into his pockets. "Do you have any incense sticks? Preferably if they're scented with sandalwood?" He knew for a fact that Rin _loved _sandalwood incense. It had been a custom in her house for the longest time. Every time he'd been to her place, the rooms were always layered with the aroma.

"Of course. You just wait here, I'll be right back," the woman said with a smile.

"Yes. Thank you!" Kakashi replied with his usual grin.

When she returned, she had a small paper packet of ten incense sticks. She opened it out for him to see. The familiar smell gave Kakashi a bad case of nostalgia. He picked one up in his gloved palm and took in a deep sniff.

What perfection.

"This is lovely," he said, his voice soft. He took out his wallet. There really wasn't much money left in it, but he could still comfortably cover the bill over here. He felt strangely calm. The panic had left him. Once more, he sighed. This time it was an expression of contentment. Rin was back and now everything would fall into place. "Thank you," he told the old lady. "You have no idea how much I needed this."

She placed a wrinkled hand on his arm. "I think I do have an idea, son," she said. She gave him a small smile. "People that come here always find what they're looking for."

"It's funny," Kakashi replied then. "What I've been looking for found me."

* * *

"What the hell is Kakashi-sensei doing in a prayer shop?" Naruto asked. "Is he religious or something? I didn't know he was."

"Shh, he's coming out," Sakura hissed.

* * *

The second he stepped out, he knew. Any self-respecting ninja would know. His palm momentarily tightened around his purchase. Glancing upwards, to the prayer shop's roof, he said, "You three clearly need more stealth practice."

When nothing happened, he rolled his eyes. "Seriously, come out now. You're embarrassing yourselves."

A minute passed.

"If you don't get your asses down here, I'm going to make you train for all the Sundays over the next three months."

"_What?_ You can't do that, it's against the rules!" Naruto screeched, his arms flailing.

"Naruto!" Sakura snapped. "You gave us away!"

"I did not! I simply—AH!" Naruto yelped before losing his balance and falling off the roof. He landed heavily at Kakashi's feet and gave out a whimper.

Sakura grumbled something about stupid morons before landing gracefully on her toes, with Sasuke coming up behind her a second later. The dark haired Uchiha shot Naruto a look of contempt. "Tch. Idiot."

Naruto was on his feet in an instant. "This was _your _idea," he accused.

"No, hiding on the roof was your idea. I was against it from the start."

"I'm talking about whose idea it was to stalk Kakashi-sensei!"

"No, you brought that up. I simply said it would be good practice. I didn't actively support you."

"Shut up, Sasuke!"

Kakashi sighed for the third time in ten minutes. Pressing the bridge of his nose, he muttered something inaudible about irritating little brats. Finally, he decided it was time to take the bull by the horns. He was an elite warrior. He was Copy Ninja Kakashi. He could do it.

"Okay. Anyone wants to tell me why I was being stalked by a bunch of unruly genin?"

All three of them tensed and looked at him. "Uh…" Sakura began.

Naruto took a very, very large intake of breath. Like he was readying himself for performing a fireball jutsu or something. Kakashi raised an eyebrow. With a look of monstrous determination, the blonde boy said, "We wanted to find out why that woman got you so jumpy."

Sasuke and Sakura both took a couple of steps away from Naruto, as though to convey, _we don't know who he is and we don't know what he's talking about. _Kakashi felt a cloud of exasperation settle on him.

"Is that all?" Kakashi replied, finally. His tone was mild, almost disinterested. His usual slouch was back, as was the somewhat permanent expression of apathy.

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing a finger at him. "Tell us!"

Kakashi blinked once, and then carefully said, "First of all, it isn't your business. Secondly, I was merely shocked. Quite shocked, in fact. Stunned. That is all."

"So she isn't like, your long-time girlfriend who you haven't seen for years?" Sakura asked in an unusually Naruto-ish manner.

Kakashi actually had to stop himself from laughing. He struggled for a moment to keep his amusement under control. However, before he could reply, a familiar bird call was heard and the Copy Ninja looked up to see one of the Hokage's messenger hawks. The bird swooped low and dropped a scroll before vanishing into the air again.

The Copy Ninja carefully untied the scroll and glanced at it. Slowly rolling it up, he grinned. "Well, this has been a nice talk. Bye now!" before poofing away.

* * *

"So she isn't like, your long-time girlfriend who you haven't seen for years?"

"Well, this has been a nice talk. Bye now!"

The three genin gaped at the cloud of smoke that had been their teacher.

"He deliberately avoided the question," Sakura grumbled.

"Then that's all the answers we need," was Sasuke's cool response.

Naruto smirked deeply. "No. A good ninja completes the mission. We find out more."

* * *

Kakashi waited patiently outside the Hokage's office, idly flicking through the pages of his book. His concentration wasn't entirely in it. He kept replaying the day's events in his mind, right up to that amusing conversation with his team. Long-time girlfriend. He could almost imagine Rin going magenta at the very thought. He had known that as children, Rin used to have feelings for him, but they were adults now. He knew for a fact that if she was even reminded of her silly crush, she would either become embarrassed or become annoyed.

Oh Rin. As a child, Kakashi had been a real asshole. He used to think Rin's feelings were…stupid. That she was stupid. Well, sometimes, anyway. But the fact was that Rin Nohara was a genius in ways that Kakashi couldn't even fathom. He realised that the day Obito died. He realised that when Rin performed an extremely complicated surgery on him in ten minutes without any special tools or any support, and somehow managed to do it successfully. Right in the middle of a fucking warzone.

Who else could do that? Deep down, Kakashi wondered if even Tsunade was capable of it. He didn't think she was.

And Rin was a genius at patience. She was the one person that kept Obito and Kakashi from killing each other. The team's most gentle member. The one who had the most empathy. Rin understood human emotion like no-one did. She would always try to get Kakashi to open up and sometimes, very, very rarely, she was even successful in getting him to show his soft side. It didn't happen often, though. But the fact that she could do it was an achievement in itself.

A small smile graced his masked lips. If only he'd appreciated her back then the way he did now…

It was at that moment that the door to the Hokage's office opened and that thing of beauty walked out.

"Oh," Rin exclaimed, her eyes widening.

Kakashi grinned at her. "Hi again."

"Hey, Kakashi!"

They stood like that for a moment, smiling awkwardly. Kakashi knew that he was making a bit of a scene. Tsunade was watching both of them like an eagle. She expected Kakashi to enter the threshold and close the door so they could discuss business. She expected Rin to leave without another word.

The Hokage finally prompted them.

"Kakashi, I wanted to discuss a mission with you."

The Copy Ninja tore his eyes away from his teammate and nodded once to the blonde woman. Quietly, only for Rin's ears, he said, "Meet you outside?"

She nodded ever so slightly. Kakashi took hint and closed the door behind her.

When he looked at Tsunade next, he did so with a slight air of irritation. "You should have told me sooner, you know."

"I only found out she was coming back a week ago."

"Which is a week longer than I knew."

"I'm sorry, Kakashi. I didn't want to get your hopes up. She's been gone so long and even it felt surreal even to me, the very idea of her coming back."

Kakashi Hatake put his hands into his pockets. "Forget it. What did you want to talk about?"

Tsunade rested her chin on her thumbs. "Some weeks ago, four ANBU Black Ops members were sent to assassinate a crime lord who has been creating trouble in the South Front. They haven't yet returned and I hadn't received any word on their progress. Then, yesterday, this came in." She handed him a scrap of paper with something sloppily written on it.

"I can barely read it," Kakashi muttered, squinting at the bad handwriting.

"It reads: _mission accomplished._"

Tsunade waited patiently for Kakashi's reaction. When it came, she wasn't surprised at his calm response. "That's not like the ANBU."

"Exactly. It's too vague and too…haphazard."

"So what do you want me to do?"

Tsunade was quiet for a moment. "I had experts look at the handwriting. They say it definitely belongs to one of the ANBU members we have on file—for obvious reasons, I can't disclose the identity of this person."

"I understand."

"But something doesn't feel right to me. Call it a gut feeling." The Hokage brushed some hair out of her eyes. "I'm going to give it until day after tomorrow. If the missing ANBU members haven't returned by then, I want you to go see what's happened."

"Alright."

"Let me be clear, Kakashi. This is a recon mission. Unless it's completely necessary, do not engage in battle. Do you understand? I don't want to draw attention to the fact that the Leaf aims at killing this crime lord. He's very powerful and very well-connected and if he finds out that we're after him, it's going to be difficult for us to get the job done."

"Right. Got it."

"That is all. Dismissed."

* * *

Rin was leaning against a tree outside the Hokage's complex, playing with her long braid. When she saw Kakashi arrive, she waved at him. He grinned at her again, feeling warm. It was nice, really nice, to have her around again. Like a part of him that had been lost had returned.

"That was quick," Rin commented as he approached. "I thought your meeting would take longer."

"So did I." Remembering something, he dug into his pockets and pulled out the incense sticks. "Here you go. I figured you'd be too tired to get them. Or too frazzled or something. I know I'd be if I'd returned from a journey as long as yours."

Rin's eyes widened at the gift and she took it from his hands. "That's so sweet of you."

"No need to thank me," he waved it off. "Come on. We're not done yet."

They fell into step with each other, walking in a comfortable silence. Kakashi would never admit it, but he was glad for that. It proved that even after all this time, they could be quiet, not say a word, and not have to worry about it.

Kakashi would occasionally shoot glances at his friend, taking in her reactions to the village she'd been away from for so long. He found himself wanting to laugh as he noticed the myriad expressions on her face, from joy to surprise to nostalgia. Occasionally, she'd ask a question, like, "Is Ichiraku's as good as it used to be?" or, "Why did they repaint that building _red?_" and Kakashi would answer patiently, enjoying her curiosity.

They entered the flower shop. Ino was there, sitting behind the counter. She was doodling on a scrap of paper, very obviously bored. As they got close, she looked up. Her eyes went from Kakashi to Rin. Still looking at the Copy Ninja's female companion, she greeted, "Hey, Kakashi-sensei. How can I help you?"

Kakashi looked around the shop. "Do you have any lilies?"

"Yep. They're in the back."

"Could I have a bouquet of lilies? And could you wrap it up in orange paper, if you have any?"

"Or red," Rin interjected.

Kakashi glanced at her. "Red?" Then remembering the colour of the Uchiha symbol, nodded in agreement. "Yeah. If not orange, then red."

Ino, meanwhile, was looking between the two of them. "We have orange," she said. "Hold on, I'll be right back with your flowers."

She disappeared behind a closed door that read _Employees Only _before coming back, a few minutes later, with a beautifully prepared bouquet of flowers wrapped up in orange tissue and tied together with a white satin ribbon. "Here you go," she said with a smile. "Do you like it?"

Kakashi took it from her. "This is great, thank you." Without really thinking about it, he handed the flowers to Rin. "Here you are."

Rin, too, didn't seem to think much of it. "They're beautiful," she whispered, taking a long breath. She closed her eyes as the aroma enveloped her. "They're absolutely lovely. Thank you."

For a moment, Ino didn't know if the woman was addressing her or Kakashi-sensei. But then the silver-haired ninja said, "Don't mention it." And he smiled at her before turning back to Ino. "Right. How much do I owe you?"

Ino stared at them as they left. She didn't know what to make of it. Kakashi-sensei was walking in his usual slouch with his hands in his pockets. The woman, however, cradled the flowers in her hands like a newborn child.

She mentally reminded herself to ask Asuma who Kakashi's new girlfriend was.

* * *

The memorial stone was exactly how it had been when Kakashi had visited it that morning. Steady. Absolute. Eternal. Just like death. He sighed. Placing a palm on it, he said, "Look who's come, Obito."

Rin gazed at Obito Uchiha's name, her eyes deep with the sort of pain Kakashi empathized with beautifully. She didn't say anything immediately, instead, quietly sorting out her usual ritual. First, she lit one of the incense sticks with an old match she had in her pocket ("I carry matches around because I've realised they're very useful for tough situations!"). She stuck the incense into the ground before the stone before placing the bouquet of flowers next to it. Not too close as to cause a fire, not too far as to seem detached from both Obito and the slowly burning incense.

Finally, she spoke.

"Hey there. It's me. Rin."

Quite understandably, the stone said nothing.

"We got you lilies. Wrapped in orange paper. You liked orange, didn't you?"

Late afternoon melted into evening, and the pair stood before their friend's name. Kakashi closed his eyes, feeling the cool air touch his skin. The three of them were together again. In some form, in some way. Kakashi, Rin, Obito. It didn't matter that Obito was now just some engraved letters on a stone. As far as he was concerned, the lively Uchiha was everywhere. Obito lived in them.

And for the first time in a long time, they were together again.

It had been so many years since Rin and Kakashi had just stood there, talking to the stone. Minato-sensei had been with them too, but he would always leave first, knowing full well that his team needed their privacy.

Now, like then, Kakashi and Rin recounted stories. Rin mostly talked, this time, telling Obito about her adventures. Kakashi would stand there beside her, listening intently. Sometimes, when he thought she was finding it hard to talk, he would touch her elbow; a brief, encouraging gesture, nothing more, and Rin would find the courage to keep going on.

Peace found Kakashi. The moon started to rise. It was all very nice.

* * *

Sasuke had not meant to overhear. Honestly. He was minding his own business, practicing his aim when he accidentally missed a target and the kunai he'd thrown landed several meters away from where he'd intended. Silently chastising himself, he ran to retrieve it, when he heard the voices.

Growing curious, he crept further out of the woods. His eyes met the familiar sight of messy silver hair. Kakashi and the _woman _had their backs to him. Both adults were still a few feet away from where Sasuke was, but from this distance, he could hear everything and hide perfectly.

At first, he couldn't quite understand the context of their conversation. Then, it started to become clearer.

"I can just imagine it," Kakashi said with a chuckle. "He would have bought us ramen and challenged us to an eating contest."

"Oh don't," the woman muttered. Her hand flew to her face.

Kakashi's arms dropped from his pockets to his sides. "Rin…" he said sadly.

"Sorry," she answered. "I guess I'm just…feeling a bit guilty about leaving." She took a few steps closer to the memorial stone. "I shouldn't have. It was selfish of me. You needed me. And I just left."

Kakashi shrugged, apparently nonchalant. "You needed me. I didn't follow you. After the Fourth died, Rin, both of us went a little crazy. At least you used your craziness productively and learned a lot of special medical ninjutsu and helped poor villagers who couldn't afford to go to hospitals. I on the other hand joined the ANBU hoping I'd return in a body bag. But that's before. It's over now. It doesn't matter."

"Still."

"Oh, Rin. What would Obito say if he saw you crying about something so stupid? Something that's already _happened? _Something that's behind us?"

"Shut up, Kakashi." Her voice sounded so choked and teary and Sasuke found her words slightly difficult to understand.

His sensei shook his head. "Shh, c'mere." He pulled her into a hug so tight that for a moment, Sasuke thought he was imagining things. She buried her head in his shoulder and he kept her held protectively. They stood like that for almost an entire minute. Sasuke didn't realise it, but he was blushing.

The woman, Rin, was her name? She pulled away from him finally. "I'm okay now. Sorry for being such an idiot."

Kakashi put his hands in his pockets again and grinned. "It's alright. I bet part of it is exhaustion, anyway. You should rest up. It's been a long day for you."

"True. I _am _tired. But I'm also starving."

Kakashi nodded once. "You were asking before if Ichiraku's is as good as it used to be. Why don't you taste it and decide for yourself?"

"Sounds good," Rin laughed. She looked at the memorial stone. "Good night, Obito. I'll be back in the morning, I promise."

Sasuke watched as his teacher and that Rin female walked away. Hmm. Maybe Sakura was on to something here.

* * *

**A/N: I was going to make this longer but I'm really tired and it's late and I have an early start tomorrow. So I'll leave you with this. Please review! Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I wish Kakashi had a canonical lover on the show! (Hanare doesn't count. It was a filler episode. Nice though it was, it doesn't count!) **

* * *

Sasuke wasn't considered a prodigy for nothing.

He paused, creating a minor genjutsu to hide his appearance inside a crowd. It was a busy evening in Konoha, so it was relatively easy to disappear into the sea of people. Especially if you were only twelve years old and had the height to prove it. In the distance, he could see the familiar pink-haired girl arguing with her silly blonde rival. Well, at least he knew where Sakura. But what about Naruto?

He activated his Sharingan for a moment, hoping to find Naruto's chakra somewhere in the bustle, but it was useless. The idiot wasn't outside tonight. Fine. One problem at a time.

He shoved his way out of the crowd. He glanced around, locating Kakashi several meters away and oblivious to his presence. Good. Cautiously releasing the genjustu, he approached his female teammate, mentally preparing himself for the third degree that was her greeting.

"Sasuke!" she cooed, batting her eyelids.

Ino, too, blushed. "Hi Sasuke!" she cried, twirling a lock of her hair around her little finger. "You're looking great tonight."

"Shut up, Ino. You're looking better than great, Sasuke! You're amazing!"

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Hn. Losers. Ignoring Ino, he turned his attention to Sakura instead. (He knew he would suffer for it later, but right now, it couldn't be helped).

"Sakura, have you seen Naruto?"

The pink haired girl shook her head. She looked slightly put off; Sasuke assumed it had something to do with the fact that he seemed more interested in finding his idiot orange-clad teammate instead of talking to her. Regardless, she said, "No. Why?"

Sasuke inwardly cursed. "Find him. Both of you come and meet me behind Ichiraku's. Be discreet. Something's come up. I'll tell you when we're all there." With his usual air of arrogance, he disappeared into the crowd once more.

* * *

One of the biggest benefits of running a food stall was the customers themselves. Teuchi learned so much about life, the universe and everything simply by listening in on their conversations. Shinobi were the most interesting of them all. They'd recount missions and comment on politics and crack really dark jokes and sometimes, there was even a bit of emotional drama. That was always fascinating to witness.

He knew at least a little about everyone who stopped by Ichiraku's, and the one thing he knew for a fact about Kakashi Hatake was that the man was always alone.

It wasn't physical alone-ness. No. He was usually surrounded by his teammates or his usual group of friends that consisted of Asuma, Kurenai and on occasion, Anko. Sometimes, even Genma, Izumo and Kotetsu would accompany him. And Kakashi was seen with that green-loving force of nature Maito Gai often enough. But still…Teuchi always felt that Kakashi kept himself emotionally distant from everyone. Like he was there, but he also wasn't.

He didn't really dwell on it. Shinobi were all a little messed up, there was no doubt about that. Kakashi was even more so. He'd known him since he was a child. He'd seen Kakashi plenty of times with Sakumo, and he'd seen the joy ripped right out of him after his father's death. He'd noticed the change in Kakashi's behaviour after his friend Obito had died, and also the darkness that had settled over him after the attack of the Nine-Tails. He knew Kakashi, he knew what the man had been through. So he could see why Kakashi was the way he was.

The only times he would see the Copy Ninja open up was when Maito Gai and he were having some sort of ridiculous eating contest or something. Those two were close. Kakashi would rather die than admit it, Teuchi knew that, but as an objective witness, he could tell.

But never, ever had the ramen stall owner seen the man this _comfortable _with anyone before.

Something was incredibly familiar about that woman he was with. Maybe it was the tattoos. Maybe the eyes. Either way, when she and Kakashi sat down at the counter, Teuchi spotted the cheer in the ninja's mood immediately.

"Hey Teuchi," he greeted, giving him that weird one-eyed smile. "Recognise anyone?"

Teuchi hadn't entirely been expecting the salutation, so he paused his train of thought for a moment and scratched his chin. "Hmm…" He looked closely at the woman. Kami, it felt like he'd seen her before.

The woman grinned at him in barely contained mirth. "Aww," she pouted, "You really don't recognise me?"

It hit Teuchi like a pile of stones. His hands dropped the plastic bowl he was wiping dry. _"Rin Nohara?" _he questioned in utter and total disbelief.

"Yes!" Rin said happily. "You do remember me!"

"Of course I do now! You're all grown up! How long has it been?"

"Twelve years," Rin answered with a smile.

"Twelve years too long," Kakashi muttered. She slapped his arm playfully.

Teuchi laughed. "It's good to see you, my dear. We've all missed you."

Rin smirked. "I don't doubt that."

"And it's no wonder Kakashi's in such a good mood today." Remembering the incident from this afternoon, he asked, "Is that why you got so silly before?"

Kakashi grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. It came as quite a shock to me."

"Me too," Rin answered, looking at the silver-haired man warmly. To Teuchi, she commented, "He hasn't changed a bit, has he?"

"Not at all," Teuchi replied. "Our Kakashi's the same as always."

* * *

Naruto crossed his arms. "Who the hell are you to order me around, huh?" his voice, loud as always, made Sasuke cringe.

"Naruto, shut _up. _Or Kakashi will spot us and that'll be the end of it."

They were hiding in the space between Ichiraku's and another shop. It was a real risk they were taking, and Sasuke didn't want a repeat of the afternoon's disastrous stalking attempt. Still, the fact that they were so close to their target also meant that they could hear every word with amazing clarity.

In a brief but descriptive way, Sasuke had told them what he'd witnessed between Kakashi and the Rin-woman while the two adults were standing by the memorial stone. The conversation they were listening in on now was only confirming Team 7 theory that there was more between Rin and Kakashi that met the eye.

Sakura was biting her nails. She was so obviously excited that it was pathetic. Naruto was no different. Except that he showed his glee by smirking with his teeth bared so brightly that a blind man could see it. Sasuke though, kept any semblance of emotion aside.

That is, until, the conversation turned to...a different topic. The pair had finished ordering what they wanted to eat, and now they'd really started to chat.

* * *

Rin idly played with her hair. "So," she said, searching for a conversation starter.

Kakashi saved her by quickly asking, "How did your meeting with the Hokage go?"

"Oh, good," Rin replied with a shrug. "I begin work in the hospital tomorrow morning in the Grievous Injuries department."

"Congratulations!"

Rin smiled. "Thanks. I'm excited to be working along with Lady Tsunade. She's legendary, you know? I wanted to be like her when I was a kid."

"I know."

She blushed, embarrassed. "Of course you do." Then, with a small pause, she said, "So what are you doing these days?"

He shrugged. "Nothing much." It was an oddly non-committal answer and Rin was taken by surprise for a moment. Kakashi added, "So, spill. What's the story? Are you married, engaged, what?"

She blinked at him before bursting out laughing. "Kakashi Hatake, were you actually building up the courage to ask me that question?" It was the only reasoning she could find for her friend's disinterested answer of 'Nothing much'.

To his credit, Kakashi didn't even deny it. He turned an interesting shade of pink before saying, "People get offended. I once asked a woman that and she thought I was making a pass at her."

Rin covered her mouth in her hands and started to giggle. "You're so adorable, 'Kashi."

It was Kakashi's turn to slap her arm playfully. "Don't call me that."

So naturally, Rin responded, "Okay, 'Kashi."

The Copy Ninja groaned. "Rin."

Rin composed herself. "Well, I was engaged."

This got his attention. Kakashi studied her carefully for a moment, totally silent. Finally, he asked, "Was?"

The brunette looked away, a hint of sadness suddenly etching her features. "Yeah. He was a medic too. Good guy. Kind, compassionate."

"Sounds like a catch. What happened?"

Rin looked even more depressed now. She met Kakashi's eyes briefly before saying those three potent words. "Killed in action."

"Oh." Kakashi wanted to kick himself. Just great. Knowing how sensitive Rin was, he'd still charged forward and broached a touchy topic.

The tattooed girl was quiet for a second before saying, "And you?"

Kakashi gave out a chuckle. "What do you think?"

"Hmm…Face like yours? You'd have no problem with the ladies unless you're as much of an idiot as you used to be, all haughty with that holier-than-thou attitude. But...I don't know, it doesn't seem to me like anything interesting's happened with you in the romance department."

He rolled his eyes. "Jeez, thanks." Then, with a small snicker, he added, "Yes, you're right. I don't date. And I don't go flashing my face off to women either."

Rin shook her head in fake dismay. "What a shame. Your genetics are wasted on you, Kakashi."

Kakashi laughed. "I said I don't date. I didn't say I don't…go out." He left the sentence hanging there, allowing her to come to her own conclusion. Her big brown eyes widened and her smirk grew deep. Kakashi felt the corners of his mouth quirk upwards as he added, "Asuma calls me a man-slut."

"Typical!" Rin cried and almost fell off her chair laughing.

* * *

Sasuke wanted to claw his ears off.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but this conversation was going places he had never wanted it to go. He didn't want to know about his sensei's love life, he didn't want to know that Asuma called Kakashi a 'man-slut', he didn't want to know, he didn't, he didn't!

He gave his accomplices a wild look. Both of them appeared equally disturbed. Was this punishment for listening in on an adult discussion?

Sakura pointed out something, though.

In an excited whisper, she said, "Rin knows what his face looks like!"

Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement. Yes. Whatever Kakashi-sensei and Rin had, it had been serious. Not just anybody got to see his face.

* * *

"If you eat so fast, you're going to get stomach cramps," Rin chided. She'd barely blinked to find that Kakashi had downed his entire bowl of ramen in one go.

"You're several years too late to break me out of that habit," he coolly muttered. Though he knew that Rin had tried, right from when they first started out as a team. She couldn't help it. She was a medic, and they tended to get hyper about stuff like that. And Kakashi never used to listen to her about this anyway. After Sakumo was shunned by the village, they'd started targeting Kakashi as an object of ridicule as well. That's when the mask-wearing started and now it was too late to stop.

"Yeah but it's never too late to try," she retorted. Then she took a messy slurp of her own ramen and chewed it slowly, exactly thirty-two times. There were far, far more vegetables in her bowl than there had been in Kakashi's. The silver haired man thought _he _liked vegetables until now, until he was reminded that Rin was obsessive about eating healthy.

"Good luck with that," Kakashi said.

They chatted idly about missions and wars and funny incidents and then reverted back to her favourite topic: The Idiocies of Kakashi Hatake and Obito Uchiha.

"Do you remember that time Obito put a spider down your shirt?" Rin asked through giggles. "It was the funniest thing I've ever seen."

Kakashi cringed at the memory. It had been one of the worst twenty seven seconds of his life. "I was traumatized," he told her.

"Yeah, but you were sane enough to punch him in the face, though, weren't you?"

Kakashi smiled at the memory. The resulting fight had led to Minato punishing them both to doing D-Rank missions for the rest of the month. If Obito and Kakashi had ever had one thing in common, it had been contempt for low ranking missions. 'A bonding exercise' their sensei had called it.

"Remember what happened on your birthday?" Kakashi asked her.

"How could I forget!? You two ended up having a food fight, for crying out loud."

"Oh shut up, you enjoyed it. As I remember, you managed to smack us both in the face with your birthday cake and you poured fruit punch all over Gai."

Rin was shaking with laughter. "Oh yeah. That was a good day."

As they finished, the brunette took out her wallet.

"Oh no you don't," Kakashi said, pushing her hand away. "This one's on me."

"But—"

"It's my treat. Consider it a welcome home present."

"Kakashi, really, it's not—"

Kakashi grinned. "You can pay for lunch tomorrow. Happy?" With that, he handed the last of his money to Teuchi. "Come on. I'll walk you home."

* * *

The three genin followed the couple, keeping a careful distance. It was difficult to hear what they were saying to each other, but nothing could be done about that. The two adults walked down a street that they children had never been to before. Things were getting quiet now. It was starting to get a bit late.

The jonin stopped before an apartment building. Kakashi-sensei and Rin spoke with each other for a moment before Kakashi walked through the building door with the woman following a step behind.

It was right then that Sasuke decided that he wanted out of this crazy 'mission'. Having overheard the horrible conversation about man-sluts, he didn't even want to _think _about what was going on up there.

* * *

Kakashi stopped outside Rin's apartment on the first floor. He watched Rin turn the lock before she said, "For your own good, don't come in."

"Why not?" he asked her, perplexed.

"It's…not in good condition. The house, I mean. It's been locked up for years."

Rin's one-room apartment had belonged to her parents. The Nohara family were rich medics who, after the Nine-Tails attack, had left Konoha saying that it wasn't safe there. Rin had protested and argued and fought to stay behind and help rebuild the village she loved. This had, unfortunately, ended any relationship she had with her parents (who she had never been particularly close with anyway). Despite that, though, they had willed her the apartment, if not their large mansion that was now in the possession of the bank it had been mortgaged to.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "It can't be that bad."

Helplessly, Rin opened the door. "See for yourself."

Kakashi took three steps inside and almost died of a sneezing fit. He managed to lower his mask just in time before his sinuses exploded with irritation. The apartment was stuffy and musty and absolutely _covered _with dust.

Sneezing fit calmed, he replaced his mask and raced to the windows to throw them open, only to have Rin squeak in indignation. "No, don't!" she yelped before running over and shutting them again.

"Why won't you open them!?" he asked, looking at her.

"Bees! There's a bee hive near the kitchen window and they're just looking for any opportunity to enter the house."

"Oh that's just…" his voice trailed away as he saw the state of the apartment. Each surface was coated with a thin layer of dust, except for the places where Rin had very obviously tried to clean up the mess. There were cracks on her ceiling and something that looked very suspiciously like a termite infestation on one of the walls.

"I'm going to call an exterminator tomorrow," she explained, going red. "I know it's awful—"

"You're not staying here," Kakashi barked. "Pack an overnight bag, you're coming with me. No arguments."

"What? Why would I—?"

"You're going to fall ill if you spend an entire night here. There's no way I'm letting you do it. Come on. I'll wait. Tomorrow, after you're well rested, we'll come here and clean up, okay? But right now, you're going to stay over at my place."

Rin knew perfectly well from her battlefield days that when Kakashi used The Tone there were no arguments. Besides, he had a point. She didn't want to stay at this filth-bucket apartment. The very idea gave her jitters. Relenting, she went to the bedroom and threw together two sets of clothes—pajamas to sleep in and an outfit for the next day. She packed underwear and a toothbrush before coming out again to see Kakashi inspecting a beetle that sat on the window.

"I'm thinking we should call an Aburame for help on this," he muttered.

"That might actually be a good idea."

He looked up. "You all set?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then. Come on."

* * *

"Hey, they're coming out again," Naruto exclaimed.

The trio were hiding behind a large rosebush. All three of them were trying very hard to hide even traces of their chakra. Kakashi-sensei was not a man to be underestimated, and if he discovered that they were spying on him again…Naruto didn't even want to _think _about the kind of crap he'd put them through. There had been one time when he'd punished them by making them bathe his ninken. It had taken an entire trauma squad to heal their injuries and they had to be seen by a shrink before they were allowed on active duty again.

And Kakashi had just sat there, reading his stupid porn and giggling like a girl.

Presently, though, Kakashi-sensei was doing anything but giggling. In fact, he seemed to be coughing.

"Are you alright?" the Rin-woman asked.

"Yeah, I just have a dust storm in my throat, that's all," their sensei replied, sardonic as ever.

"Shut up. I bet even your apartment has been that bad after you've come back from a long mission."

"Not _quite _that bad," Kakashi replied, eye-smiling. He was rewarded with another round of coughing before Rin sighed and patted him on the back a bit.

"Do you want some water? I have some here somewhere…"

"No, it's alright. I can breathe again." Thank Kami that Konoha had such clean air.

_Where are they going now? _Sasuke thought. _And what with the bag she's carrying? _

The three genin followed their teacher down another set of roads until they came upon a more familiar layout. Sasuke felt his stomach sink. _This is the route to Kakashi's place! _

* * *

It had been so long since Rin had seen the familiar white building that she paused for a moment and stared at it. A lot of memories were made here. Like the time Obito had shot a jet stream of water through a water pistol aimed at an open window. It had resulted with a drenched Kakashi and a petrified Obito running for his life. Another time, Rin had spent the entire day with her silver haired friend because of a bad fever that had rendered him unable to even stand properly. Then there was Kakashi's birthday celebration that they'd forced upon him—he really had been a fussy brat back then, right? She could almost imagine Minato-sensei laughing at his team's antics…

Kakashi stopped and studied her. "What?" he asked finally.

"Mhmm, nothing," she answered, smiling. "A lot of memories."

"Oh," he replied. Absently, his palm brushed her elbow. "Yeah, I know what you mean." He sounded sad for a minute there before breaking out of it. "Come on, it's cold out here."

Nothing had changed.

The building's hallways were the same. Narrow, with wooden floorboards. The fifth step of the stairway to the second floor was creaky, as it had always been. Akumi-san's doorway smelled of stale cabbage, just as before. Everything was untouched by time. Beautifully untouched.

Except for Kakashi.

Rin's eyes traced him, drinking in every detail. There was a new wisdom in him that he hadn't possessed all those years ago. He walked with a slouch that he'd never worn before. His visible eye looked perpetually haunted by the things he'd seen and done. Rin didn't know if it was a good thing or not, but he was different now.

Then again, she'd changed too. She'd become tougher. Colder. She'd learned to cut her losses better, because that's what medical ninjas did. On a battlefield, they had been taught, save only the ones who can be saved. Don't waste time on those who won't be able to fight. Save those with minor injuries. If anyone was seriously wounded, if they were close to death, _let them die _because during the heat of a fight, a medical ninja must pick the side of the healthier Shinobi.

Rin had done just that. She'd done it a countless times. She wasn't proud of it. But it was part of her job, just as choosing a mission over a teammate was part of Kakashi's job. That's simply how their world worked.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, shattering her train of thought.

"Wondering how to clean my apartment."

Kakashi cocked his head to one side and said nothing. He didn't believe her and she knew it.

He opened the door to his apartment and let her go in first.

"This place is exactly how I left it!" Rin exclaimed loudly.

His apartment was spotless. It was somewhat spartan, with a dining table on one side of the living room and a sofa bed on the other. The kitchen was tiny, extremely utility-based. There was a large bookshelf against one of the walls. Rin approached it now, pulling out a paperback and flipping through it.

"Kakashi…" she murmured, her voice blank.

"Yes, Rin?" his tone was teasing, amused. It was daring her to go on.

"_Icha Icha Tactics?"_ she raised an eyebrow at him.

"What about it?" Kakashi questioned innocently.

"It's porn."

"Erotica," he corrected, "The word you're looking for is erotica. And no, by the way. It's not porn—"

"—Erotica," Rin deadpanned.

"—They're _romance _novels."

"Uh-huh."

"Full of drama and intrigue. The passion and devotion of the main characters just moves me to tears." With that, he sniffled loudly and pretended to wipe his eye.

"Hmm…" Rin muttered, stopping at a random page in the middle of the book. "Yeah, you're right. The passion and devotion the two main characters are showing in this position here—oh, wow, I'd actually like to try it."

"Very funny," Kakashi retorted.

Rin giggled at his eye roll and closed the book. "Could you get some pillows and a blanket? I'll pull out the bed, meanwhile."

Kakashi waved her away. "Take my bed, Rin," he said. "I'll sleep in the living room."

The brunette stared at him. "No, no, Kakashi. I'm the guest, I'll—"

"I don't mind sleeping on the sofa bed tonight. And I'm not taking no for an answer. You can have my room." With that, Kakashi took Rin's overnight bag from her shoulder and went to put it on his bed. When he returned, a moment later, it was with a grin. "Would you like some tea or something? I was just thinking of making a pot."

"No, I'm alright. I'd like to just sleep now," she confessed.

"Oh, sure," Kakashi answered. He side-stepped so she could enter his bedroom. "Tell me if you need anything, okay?"

* * *

Sasuke watched as light came from Kakashi's living room window. Then, his bedroom light was switched on. He couldn't really tell what was going on through the curtains, but a part of him knew that this was probably a good thing.

He looked at Naruto and Sakura. "I think we should go now," he told his team.

Naruto looked ready to protest, but Sakura's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, I really should be heading home. It's late. My parents are going to kill me."

The blonde boy crossed his arms, annoyed. "Fine. But we're going to keep doing this until we uncover the truth, right?"

"Yes," Sasuke automatically answered. "Besides, there isn't much we can find out right now anyway. The both of them are…" his voice trailed away and he shuddered.

Even in the pale moon light, Sasuke noticed Naruto and Sakura turning beetroot.

"I wasn't thinking about it that way," Sakura whimpered.

"That's gross," Naruto declared.

_IT IS, _the Uchiha wanted to yell. But Sasuke being Sasuke, he rolled his eyes. "Tch. Loser. I'm going." And he got up and slunk away as quickly as he could. Mostly so that Naruto wouldn't notice how red his cheeks had become because of the awkward conversation.

* * *

Kakashi was barely conscious. He was lying down with the blanket covering him, eyes closed, his thoughts wandering everywhere without really a care in the world. It was warm and comfortable and the sofa bed was not as bad as he thought it would be. Sleep would come to him in three, two, one…

Soft, feminine feet touched the floor and Kakashi's ninja reflexes meant he jerked awake almost instantly. He kept still, wondering what Rin wanted.

She came into his line of sight, silhouetted against the moonbeams that poked through the curtains. Her long, long hair was open and it tickled his forehead a little when she bent down to his level. Carefully, she sat on the edge of the sofa bed before whispering, "Kakashi?"

"Hmm?" he murmured drowsily.

In that same quiet voice, she spoke, "Thank you for letting me stay here tonight."

Kakashi smiled very, very slightly.

"Rin?"

"Yes, Kakashi?"

He squeezed her hand. "Thank you for coming back."

* * *

**A/N: Am I the only one who genuinely believes that Kakashi is a man-slut? I'm telling you, that guy sleeps around town like no-one's business. I'm sure of it. **

**I'm really happy with how I did in this chapter. But it's your opinion that matters, so tell me what you think. Thanks for reading. Please review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I am so sorry for the late update. **

* * *

_Warm, _Kakashi thought. He wasn't feeling particularly coherent, and the softness of a barely-awake brain was inviting him back to sleep. All he cared about was that it was toasty and cozy and he could lie like this forever.

He curled his body into an even more comfortable position, and that's when he registered the weight on his chest.

Funny. He wondered what it was. Pakkun used to have a habit of falling asleep on Kakashi's chest with his tail-end right on the Jounin's face (luckily he grew out of that). But he couldn't remember summoning Pakkun and he highly doubted that the dog would poof here of his own accord.

Then two arms tightened around his body and he suddenly felt very, very awake. In a small panic, he opened his black eye and stared at her.

Rin was curled up so close to him that he could smell her hair. Her arms were around him, and she was breathing softly, fast asleep. Heat rose to Kakashi's face in an instant and he quickly moved a hand to touch his mask. Then he moved his legs slightly.

Well. At least he was fully clothed. And so was Rin. So they hadn't done anything…stupid.

Next order of business: get the hell out of this situation. Rin was holding onto him so tightly that it was impossible to move without waking her up. She was a ninja, after all. She was always at least halfway conscious in any situation.

For a moment, he considered it. From the dim light in the room, the sun was only beginning to rise. This was Kakashi's normal time. He'd get up, get dressed and visit Obito. Then he would make his way to meet his team, get lost on the road of life as he helped random citizens with random things, and finally greet his children with a sheepish smile and some cock-and-bull story that he swore really did happen.

His entire schedule would get thrown out of whack if he just lied there.

So he did what any tactless, emotionless, socially stunted moron would do.

"Uhm, Rin?"

"…"

"Rin?"

"…Mmm?"

"Rin, wake up."

"Mm…"

"Rin, come on." He failed to keep the pleading tone out of his voice. This situation was terrifying him. They were close, but not _this _close.

"…'Kashi…wha time's zit?"

"It's…early."

"Five more minutes…"

He inwardly groaned. Fine. Time for radical action. He proceeded to wriggle this way and that, somehow trying to untangle himself from her octopus grasp on his person. Wow. She really did have some grip.

Rin mumbled something that sounded vaguely like, "Stay still."

"But…" as hastily as he could, he said, "I need to go to the bathroom."

"Jerk," she retorted, her arms loosening. With a definitely irritated look on her semi-sleeping face, she turned around and backed him. "You're a jerk, 'Kashi."

He blinked at her as he crawled out of the most heart-numbing situation he'd ever been in and mumbled, "I'm really sorry."

"Go to hell."

And with that, she was sleeping again.

The next half an hour was spent brushing, bathing, fixing his gravity defying hair and adding a few more kunai in his pouch. When he exited his room, Rin was making breakfast. She glanced at him, went beetroot, and quickly tackled the problem head-on.

"Sorry about today," she squeaked. "I can't believe I fell asleep out here last night…and all that weird stuff I said. Oh man." She covered her face. "Sorry."

Kakashi scratched the back of his head and gave a nervous chuckle, averting his eyes to the pull-out bed that Rin had put back into place. She'd even folded the blankets and everything. Swallowing, he replied, "No big deal, really."

"I'm _mortified,_" she cried, throwing her hands up in the air. Suddenly something on the cooking fire popped and she swore before trying to fix it. The smell of food burning filled the room. Kakashi winced. He knew from experience that Rin was a terrible cook.

"What are you making?" he asked tentatively.

She quickly scraped the frying pan with a metal spatula and dumped its contents into the bin. She spun on her heels and quickly said, "Eggs."

He gave her a blank look before saying, "Would you like me to make them instead?"

Her eyes flashed dangerously. _"NO._ I got this!"

Kakashi put his arms up in surrender. "Okay. Okay. Have it your way."

After six failed attempts, Rin placed on the table two plates of whitish-yellow stuff that was burnt on the edges and undercooked in the middle and said cheerfully, "There you go!" Along with that she handed Kakashi a small cup of green tea. "Let's eat."

"Looks delicious," he grinned. Then, Kakashi steeled his tastebuds, pulled down his mask and horked it down in two seconds flat. He replaced his mask and gave her a smile. Luckily, the dark fabric on his face hid his pained expression as he said, "That was perfect. Thank you."

Rin gave him a look of joy before taking the first bite out of her breakfast. She quickly forced down a gagging reflex, gave Kakashi an evil look and pushed her plate towards him. "Turns out, I'm not too hungry. Would you like to finish this?"

The Copy Ninja surveyed his diabolical friend as he sipped the overly sweet tea through his mask. He grinned. "I'd _love _to but I'm stuffed."

Rin pouted. "Okay." She gave her food a sad look before putting another bite in her mouth.

Fifteen torturous minutes later, they went to visit Obito.

* * *

Sakura was making her way to the bridge to meet Naruto and Sasuke when she heard a pair of familiar voices and blushed. Something akin to mischief stuck to her face, she quickly hid in the corner of an alley.

They were talking in energetic tones, arguing about something.

"I think you're being too brutal," Kakashi muttered, eyeing Rin. She walked with a stomp in her step as she wildly flailed her arms.

"I am _not. _What's going on in the Land of Snow is nothing if not negligence, Kakashi. Their queen wouldn't know how to run a country if someone threw a instruction manual in her face. They had a near disaster last winter because their supply chains went bust. Half the state didn't receive any grain. _Half the state. _The only reason they survived is because most people there practice subsistence agriculture."

"She's a good person. I've met her on a mission once."

"She can be a freaking saint for all I care. She can't run a country. Plus she spends most of her time acting in movies. In movies! Is she a diva or a political leader? I mean, seriously!"

"In _good _movies," Kakashi defended loyally.

"Oh please. You're only saying that because she's the lead female for the film adaptation of your porn books."

"They're romance novels!"

"Gimme a break."

Sakura rolled her eyes. They were discussing politics? This wasn't juicy at all! And wait, what was her sensei doing up so early anyway? Did this mean he was finally going to meet them on time? A part of Sakura doubted it. Kakashi would always be their lazy teacher. No matter what, or who, happened to him.

Heh. Wait. Maybe she could make things more interesting.

Jumping out of her hiding place, she bounded up to Kakashi.

"Sensei! Kaka-sensei!"

He turned, blinking in surprise. "Oh. Um. Good morning, Sakura."

"Sensei?" Rin asked, her eyes turning to him in surprise.

Sakura grinned as she got near him. "Morning, Kakashi-sensei!" Then, she looked innocently at Rin and blinked her big green eyes at her. "Good morning to you too."

"Good morning," Rin smiled. "You are…?"

"Sakura Haruno, ma'am. You're Kakashi-sensei's girlfriend, right?"

The adults had such a violent reaction to the question that Sakura just stared. Rin went beetroot and actually jumped a few inches away from Kakashi, while the Copy Ninja groaned and put his head in his hands. He _knew _those little brats would do something like this. Ever since that Hanare incident, they'd been convinced that every girl he was ever seen with was his date. The last time this happened, Anko nearly beat Naruto to death and loudly declared that she'd rather die than be Kakashi's girlfriend.

He collected himself quicker than Rin did. "Sakura, just _no, _okay? No."

The pink-haired girl appeared to wilt.

Appeared to.

Look underneath the underneath.

"Oh," Sakura said. "Well, I'm sorry. I just thought…well, you guys look really cute together, so…"

Rin took a deep breath, gave a wide smile, and laughed. Kakashi arched an eyebrow.

"Well, thank you," Rin giggled. "But you'll be sorely disappointed, I'm afraid. Kakashi and I are teammates. Or were. Back when we were children. I'm Rin Nohara. And," she turned to look at said silver-haired teammate, "You didn't tell me you had students." Her tone was mildly accusatory.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. So far, this day wasn't going as he wanted. "I, uh, it was probably repressed."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Ha-ha, sensei. Very funny."

Rin gave him a disapproving look. "I want to meet your kids, 'Kashi."

Sakura almost snickered at the nickname but stopped herself. Team 7 would rag Kakashi-sensei about it later.

"…You really don't," he pleaded. "They have nothing nice to say about me."

Rin shrugged, nonchalant. "It can't be anything I don't already know, so, Sakura," she grinned at the girl, "Shall we?"

The pinkette hadn't quite expected such brilliant results for her meddling and she eagerly nodded. Just friends, huh? Judging from how those two behaved around each other, she highly doubted that 'teammates' was all there was to it.

It suddenly occurred to her how pathetically little she knew about her sensei. She'd somehow never imagined him having a team. He just seemed so distant half the time so even when he went on and on about working together and how the three of them were one, she'd never once stopped to think about him.

She glanced up at Rin. Well, that was one of the teammates. What about the other? She turned her head to see Kakashi looking morose, as though he was counting the minutes to his imminent demise. Where was Kakashi-sensei's third team member?

"Come _on, _Kakashi," Rin called without looking at him.

He sighed. "Hmm."

The brunette glanced at him now and laughed. Kakashi gave her a not-so-amused-but-still-very-happy grin. Sakura noted that he'd never looked quite so peaceful before.

* * *

**A/N: Just a notice. I won't be able to update anything until after the 18****th**** of August. I'll be travelling out of the country and unless I get my hands on free wifi, I won't be coming online. Also, I have a new idea for an AU drabble series. I guess you'll know what I'm talking about once I put it up. **

**Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review! ^_^ **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I am SO sorry for my horrendously tardy update. After I got back home from my holiday I had to work my butt off to finish pending assignments and then I had online exams…so yeah, I've been really busy. **

**Thank you for being so patient! I hope you like this chapter! **

* * *

It was a very well-known fact that Kakashi's life sucked. He'd been orphaned at a young age, lost his best friend to a bad decision, lost his teacher to the village, and his other best friend had vanished for years, leaving him all alone. Poor baby. But, you know, she'd come back. Kakashi had genuinely expected that her return would make things easier for him.

He was so very wrong.

The Copy Ninja trailed behind Rin and Sakura with a powerful foreboding. He watched them, the young pinkette listening to the older woman with wide, excited eyes. The Sandaime Hokage had once mentioned that his new team was almost exactly like his old one. Kakashi agreed wholeheartedly, except for one thing. Now way in hell were Rin and Sakura in any way similar.

Sakura, for instance, was a fangirl. Rin had kept her affections for Kakashi a secret. Sakura repeatedly injured Naruto. Rin did everything in her power to take care of Obito. Sakura was a hothead. Rin always kept her cool. The only two things they _did _have in common were a) they were both female, and b) They both had somewhat of an interest in Medical Ninjutsu. Even in this case, Sakura was only just learning the art, and Rin was an expert.

Presently, Rin was telling Sakura about a mission she'd been on where she had to perform an especially tricky healing jutsu to cure a teammate from poison. "Suki was hallucinating and coughing up blood. Ordinarily, I would have taken the poison out by using water as a medium, but I couldn't do that because this poison corrupted body-fluids. And as you know, our body is—"

"Ninety percent water!" Sakura piped up.

Rin chuckled. "Sixty percent," she corrected. "Actually the figures vary depending on how you look at it."

Kakashi found his attention moving on to more interesting things like why were crows black and why did Pakkun have to chew up his shoe and why was Sakura making Rin meet the other two idiots and how he wasn't going to hear the end of it because Naruto was a brat and Sakura was a brat and Sasuke was a classier brat and how all of them hated him and wanted to make his life miserable.

At the usual meeting place on the bridge, Naruto said, "Kakashi-sensei! You're…early?"

"Yep!" Sakura cheered before adding, in a very innocent—almost too innocent—tone of voice, "I found him talking with his friend and we dragged him here. Isn't that right?" she looked at the brunette sweetly.

The older woman gave a toothy smile and said, "Hey there, guys. I'm Rin Nohara. How about you?"

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to be Hokage some day!"

Rin watched Naruto intently for a whole minute, studying her sensei's son. Honestly, she wasn't surprised that Kakashi had Naruto on his team. The Third Hokage must have done that on purpose. Naruto wilted under her thoughtful gaze, eyeing her curiously. Finally, she said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto!" Then her eyes went to Sasuke. She recognised the symbol on his clothes immediately. "An Uchiha, right? What's your name?"

If Sasuke was surprised at having someone correctly guess his last name, he didn't show it. With a bored grunt, he muttered, "Sasuke."

Rin nodded approvingly. Glaring at Kakashi, she said, "They don't seem that scary to me."

"You have no idea what they're like," the Copy Ninja darkly muttered.

"What does that mean!?" Naruto shouted.

"Exhibit A."

"That's so mean, Kakashi-sensei!"

Rin cleared her throat and looked at Sakura. "Pardon my curiosity. I just have to know. I've known Kakashi since we were children and I just can't picture him as a teacher. How does he do?"

In an instant, all three of them—yes, even Sasuke—burst into loud complaints.

"He's always late!"

"He reads porn while teaching us!"

"He makes up the stupidest excuses!"

"He never pays for lunch!"

"He's always late!"

"Naruto, I already said that!"

"All this time we're wasting just standing around here, we could be training."

"Sasuke is right! Let's train!"

Kakashi sighed and rubbed his temples as Rin started to laugh. They hated him. Every one of them. They really did. And the second Rin left, they were going to get onto his case. It happened with Anko, Shizune, Yuugao, Ayame…the only person they didn't try to pair him with was Kurenai, mostly because everyone and their uncles new that she was dating Asuma Sarutobi. The only thing Kakashi could be thankful for was that this time tomorrow, he would _probably _be on a solo S-Rank mission to find out what the hell happened to those ANBU who'd been sent to kill that crime-lord.

Rin parted ways, telling them that she couldn't be late for her first day of work (unlike Kakashi). And the second she was out of earshot, the Copy Ninja prepared himself for the worst.

Naruto smirked and nudged his teacher in the ribs. "She's pretty, Kaka-sensei!"

The adult sighed and rolled his single visible eye. "If you say so, Naruto."

"Yeah, you should totally ask her out. If you haven't already, that is," Sakura said with a grin. Her eyes turned dreamy. "Your kids would be so cute."

Sasuke remained steely and quiet, and for once, Kakashi was glad. He didn't know if he could deal with an entire day of this crap.

"Sakura," Kakashi began, "_You three are my kids_. And you guys aren't cute. The three of you are bratty, loud and really irritating. So how about let's just go train and if you guys behave, I'll let you go home early. Got it?"

* * *

"Ino asked me something really strange yesterday," Asuma said thoughtfully as took a long puff from a cigarette. He was only wearing his pajama pants and was half-naked, with Kurenai donning only a skimpy nightie as she made her coffee.

The woman with the red eyes looked up as she stirred her drink. "What do you mean?" she asked in her ever-silky voice.

Asuma smiled at how sexy she sounded in the mornings before replying, "She asked me if Kakashi had a girlfriend."

At this, Kurenai laughed. "If by girlfriend she means some woman he picked up at the bar, then yes, Kakashi has several girlfriends over the course of a week."

Her boyfriend smirked and shook his head. "She said she saw him buying some girl flowers. Kakashi never buys flowers, unless he's buying them for Obito's grave."

"Flowers? Really? Who was she?"

"Brunette with tattoos on her face." Asuma said it quietly, his tone gently guiding Kurenai to her own conclusion. "My guess is, they're really good friends. If you know who I'm talking about."

The woman sipped her coffee as she sat down on Asuma's lap. "It's been a long time since I saw Rin. We used to be really close."

"Yeah?"

"Yep. Best friends. Her, me, Shizune and Anko."

"You were part of a _posse?" _

"Shut up, it wasn't a posse!"

Asuma laughed and pulled her closer towards him.

* * *

It was towards evening when Tsunade rubbed her temples. Kami, she needed a drink. The Copy Ninja before here was looking as bored as ever, though she could notice a sort of jump in his posture that she hadn't seen in years. Having an old friend back would definitely be good for him. The man was borderline depressive.

"I need you to go on that mission," she told him simply.

"I see."

"All you have to do is go there, find out what happened and if possible, get them back. Like I said before, Kakashi, do not engage in battle unless it's strictly necessary. I don't want it getting out that the Leaf wants to kill this guy."

"What's this crime-lord's name, anyway?"

"Masaru Nori. You'll leave tomorrow at dawn, got it?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Good. Dismissed."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. I'm still getting back into the zone. Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading. Please review! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Guys, I am sorry for the late update. Not only is it long overdue but it is also short and not the _best _thing I've ever written. I'm really losing the inspiration I had for this fic and it's really a struggle to just sit down and write the chapter. I'll keep at it, but my updates will probably be slow. **

* * *

Kakashi exited the Hokage's office, thinking about the new mission. It didn't seem too bad. Sure, going solo was always risky, but no-one ever gave out one-person missions to shinobi unless they knew that the ninja in question could handle it. He walked quietly down the street, his arms in his pockets. Konoha was bustling with activity. People were out with their families to enjoy the evening. Vendors shouted out their wares, children laughed and ran, couples kissed and held hands as they went on their dates.

The Copy Ninja almost walked into his blonde student.

"Hey Kaka-sensei!" Naruto greeted cheerfully. "What's up?"

"Hello Naruto," Kakashi replied with an eye-smile. "I'm glad I ran into you. Could you please tell Sasuke and Sakura that there won't be any training for a couple of days? I'm heading off for a mission tomorrow morning. Hmm," he added, stroking his chin. "Though perhaps you guys can train with Gai…"

"You're going on a mission without us?" Naruto questioned, his arms crossed petulantly.

"You know, my whole life doesn't revolve around you three," was the masked man's dry retort.

"If you're going to go tomorrow, you have buy me ramen tonight."

_I bet he was just hanging around here waiting for someone to come so he could trap them into buying ramen, _Kakashi thought, a combination of exasperation and amusement.

"Fine. Though Naruto, you really should eat some vegetables now and then."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." As they neared Ichiraku's, the orange-clad child added, "Sasuke and Sakura might be coming too."

"Great. So I'll have to buy more ramen, eh?"

"Yep!" Naruto cried happily.

Naruto was halfway into his sixth bowl when Sakura bounded up to them, her eyes wide and her posture excited. "Kakashi-sensei!" she exclaimed, her tone almost accusatory. "You never told me Rin was the Angel of the Battlefield!"

Kakashi almost choked on his ramen and had to swallow quickly and raise his mask to his face, all before either student saw what it hid.

"The what?" Naruto asked, squinting in confusion. He looked from Kakashi to Sakura. "Can someone tell me what the hell she's on about?"

The pink-haired girl flailed her arms wildly. "Lady Shizune told me. She told me that Rin-san's called the Angel of the Battlefield because she's such a brilliant medic. And the other nurses in the hospital were talking and I overheard them say that she was apparently rumored to have transplanted an eye. It was an on-field surgery and the whole situation was really critical. And she was so young! Only a year older than us. And she performed the operation _successfully _in under ten minutes. It's just amazing, isn't it?"

Kakashi, who was still spluttering and trying to clear his throat, paused for a moment. "Yeah, that's true. That happened."

"It _did? _That is so cool."

"Yeah." He looked at his only female student very seriously. "Listen, Sakura, don't ask her about that mission. I know you want to, and I can understand why something like that would be so fascinating for a student of medical ninjutsu such as yourself, but don't ask her about it."

"Uh…why, sensei?"

"Because it bothers her."

If it disturbed him to have Obito's eye in his socket, he couldn't imagine what it must have been for her. To take an eye out of one of her best friends and transplant it into the body of another person…If it was traumatic for him, it must have been ten times as traumatic for her. And yet she never talked about it. Initially, it used to worry Kakashi, but he learnt that not bringing it up was simply how she dealt with it. He could respect her privacy.

"What bothers whom?"

Rin came up so suddenly from behind them that Sakura yelped. The brunette woman laughed and sat down beside them. "What are you guys talking about?"

Before Kakashi could say anything, Sakura spoke. "Ino Yamanaka. It bothers her that I'm better than her at medical ninjutsu. But she really shouldn't be surprised, you know. I'm just better than her. Ino-pig!"

Rin rolled her eyes. "Ah, rivalries. Your own Kakashi-sensei had one."

"With Gai-sensei, we know," Naruto answered.

The brunette shook her head. "No, no. Gai was his _official _rival. But Kakashi's off-the-books rival was Obito." She smiled at Kakashi and began to narrate some of the several incidents where Obito and Kakashi had been at each other's throats. The conversation then moved to how her first day was at the hospital and how Kurenai had come and met her and did Kakashi know that Kurenai and Asuma were a couple? Kakashi exchanged information too. He told her about the mission that he was going on, and how he couldn't help her clean her apartment.

"That's okay," Rin said. "I was planning on enlisting Gai's help. It's been a while since I saw him. And you know he jumps at the chance to help anyone out."

At the mention of Maito Gai, Naruto then brought up how Rock Lee was so weird and Neji was a jerk and Tenten was okay. He ranted some more about Neji before suddenly saying, "But his cousin Hinata is really sweet." Kakashi just smiled to himself at the comment.

The Copy Ninja was the first to leave, saying he needed to get ready for the mission. Rin left ten minutes later, saying something about waking up early the next day for work.

Sakura and Naruto sat quietly for a moment until the girl poked Naruto in the shoulder. "I was thinking about that eye transplant that Rin-san had performed."

"You should really think about nicer things," the blonde muttered.

"No, listen to me! So, you know how Kakashi-sensei sounded so completely sure that it wasn't a rumor; it had actually happened…?"

"Yeah…?"

"…And, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei has mismatched eyes." She was looking at her teammate seriously, gauging his reaction. She was waiting for something, some sort of confirmation, reassurance that her theory was right. That it was on Kakashi-sensei that Rin had performed the operation.

"Maybe it's a coincidence?" Naruto asked.

"I doubt it."

The blonde shrugged. "Whatever. I think that if Kakashi-sensei wanted to tell us about it, he would have. And he also told us to not bring it up in front of Rin, right? So yeah, just forget about it." It was a rare moment of maturity, and Sakura couldn't help but feel surprised. Her features softened into a smile.

"…Yeah. You're right. Forget about it."

* * *

_One Week Later_

* * *

It was a ridiculously hot day. Lady Tsunade was fanning herself with a newspaper, radiating annoyance. She glared at everyone in the room for no other reason apart from the fact that they existed and they were in her line of sight on his unforgiving arid afternoon. Which wasn't fair, actually. She'd summoned them here herself.

"Rin, I'm reliving you from your hospital duties because I want you to go on a mission," Tsunade declared. "We haven't had word from Kakashi since he went on that mission, and frankly, I'm a little worried."

The four people she was speaking to appeared to be in various states of stress. Rin, Sakura and Naruto looked openly scared for Kakashi's well-being, whereas that bratty, gloomy Uchiha boy had a frown on his face that was more intense than usual. Apparently, Sasuke _did _care. How nice.

"The four of you are to track him down. I'm sending you, Rin, because of your talent with medical ninjutsu and because you can work well under pressure. Also, all of our other jounin are away right now. Leave immediately. I'm not sure what state he'll be in. We can't waste any time."

"Right away, Lady Tsunade," Rin said firmly. _That baka Kakashi, _she thought, _Always getting himself in trouble. He's always like that, putting his life on the line for someone else. Not this time. This time, Kakashi, I'm going to save YOU._

* * *

**A/N: Crappy ending. Sigh. I'm serious, though. I need some inspiration. That's why my updates might be short, sporadic and badly written...**

**Also, let's discuss something. Y****ou know what really bugs me? When people compare Sakura to Rin. I don't think it's possible for them to be any more dissimilar. Sakura, in Part I, was a fangirl. She was useless and stupid and couldn't do anything. She was a liability. Sakura is also a hothead, which Rin is very obviously not. Apart from the fact that Rin could do complex medical ninjutsu at a very young age, Rin didn't fawn over Kakashi like Sakura fawned over Sasuke. Actually, the first time Rin confesses her feelings towards Kakashi is during Gaiden, when she thinks he's going to die protecting her. Rin was kind to Obito, and in Part I, Sakura was ANYTHING but kind to Naruto. They are **_**so **_**not alike. I can't understand how people think they are.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading. Tell me your opinions on my rant about Sakura and Rin. **

**Please review! :)**


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